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墨書 Inktalez
Zhao Ding had a good night's rest. At this moment, he was dressed in crimson and purple robes, with a neatly trimmed white beard, looking spirited and revitalized, reminiscent of the former Left Chancellor.
After everyone took their seats, Li Hong immediately Ask the Way: “Where are the descendants of Yue Fei? Are they waiting outside the palace? We should not delay; let’s go meet them. If suitable, I will report to my master and take them as my first disciple.”
However, Zhao Ding shook his head: “Celestial Master, please allow me to explain. This matter has some complications.”
Li Hong was surprised: “What do you mean by that?”
Zhao Ding sighed: “Peng Ju had five sons, but only four are alive today. After Peng Ju was wrongfully executed in the winter of the eleventh year of Shaoxing, the Yue Family was confiscated. The eldest son, Yue Yun, is well known; alas, if he had lived alongside Peng Ju, he would have been a pillar of strength for our Song Dynasty. The other four sons managed to escape but were exiled to Lingnan. The following year, I too was demoted to Quanzhou, and after much effort, I finally managed to locate them. Yue Lei, Yue Lin, and Yue Zhen currently reside in Lingnan, all having started families. In fact, I have an old friend whose daughter is betrothed to Yue Lei. Therefore, I am quite familiar with their situation. However, the youngest son, Yue Ting, went missing back then, and we still do not know where he is. Although I am unsure what conditions you require for accepting disciples, it is said that they must be young boys. Thus, it seems that only Yue Ting qualifies since he is only ten years old this year. The problem is that we do not know his whereabouts now. If you truly wish to take on a disciple, I have an unreasonable request: please help me find Yue Ting. That would indeed be a fortunate event!”
As he spoke, Zhao Ding stood up and bowed deeply to Li Hong.
Li Hong hurriedly supported him to prevent him from bowing further and helped him back into his chair, pondering: “So it seems that all four sons were exiled together; how did only Yue Ting go missing?”
“This matter is indeed very strange. The four sons were exiled together and reached the post station at Dayu Ridge. Overnight, Yue Ting disappeared. That place is desolate with mountains and wilderness; aside from a single path known as the Meiguan Ancient Path, there are no inhabitants for hundreds of miles around. They searched frantically for a day but were forced to continue their journey by the officials. The three brothers were frantic but could do nothing; later on, they returned to search but found nothing! To this day, there has been no sign of him. Even when I was serving as the prefect of Quanzhou, I sent constables to search at Dayu Ridge and inquired with the officials at the post station back then; everyone said the same thing: they woke up one morning and he was gone—there is absolutely no doubt about it.”
At this point, Zhao Ding also appeared puzzled and bewildered. “At that time, Yue Ting was only seven years old; how could a seven-year-old child possibly wander off alone into the wilderness at night? We suspected that the officials escorting them had ulterior motives and might be connected to Qin Hui. However, it makes no sense to kill a small child while sparing his brothers. Regardless of how chaotic things have been since then, we still do not understand how Yue Ting went missing that night. After meeting you, I had a thought: perhaps this is beyond our mortal understanding; I strongly suspect there may be some evil spirits involved that took away Yue Ting. Although I find this idea absurd myself, I still earnestly request your assistance in finding him.”
Upon hearing this, Li Hong glanced at Shui Qingzi, who understood his intent and transmitted a message: “There are indeed signs of beast cultivation activity in that area. Elder, do not worry; we will handle this matter.”
With a plan forming in his mind, Li Hong nodded at Zhao Ding: “We will search for Yue Ting. You can rest assured about this matter. Also, what movements are there regarding Qin Hui?”
Just then, with a flash of white shadow, Chuming entered and immediately said: “I know all about Qin Hui's movements.”
After recounting the conversation between Qin Hui and his wife upon returning home, Chuming pondered: “What I don’t understand is what that shrewd woman Wang meant by ‘the way back.’”
Zhao Ding contemplated deeply as a serious expression gradually appeared on his face. But he said nothing more and stood up with cupped hands: “I will trouble you with the matter of Yue Ting. I still have many important tasks to attend to; if there’s nothing else from you, I will take my leave.”
Watching as Zhao Ding hurriedly left, Li Hong felt instinctively that he must know something about what that fierce woman Wang mentioned regarding ‘the way back.’ However, this was ultimately beyond his concern; after all, he was a guardian angel of the nation rather than a chancellor. It would be better for him to leave court matters to Zhao Ding. He just needed to remember to keep suppressing any grievances against Qin Hui, and also ensure that he got to the bottom of why Li Xiaolou appeared twice in Lin'an.
Li Hong did not believe that Li Xiaolou's appearance was merely coincidental; she could very well be behind the scenes of the Demon Sect's activities as the “National Guardian Master.”
********
The next day, Shui Qingzi took along Shui Miaozi to investigate the post station at Dayu Ridge in Lingnan, where Yue Ting had gone missing years ago. They planned to search for clues regarding his whereabouts centered around that location. Before leaving, Li Hong instructed them to return to Lin'an within a month regardless of whether they found any leads.
After sending off both men, Li Hong decided to thoroughly investigate whether there were any signs of fluctuations from the Demon Sect's Yin Power throughout all of Lin'an. Previously he had only conducted a cursory check without much detail; however, if even someone like Li Xiaolou could conceal the unique Yin Power fluctuations associated with Demonic Cultivation Techniques, then it was imperative to conduct a more thorough search.
Centered around the Emerald Cold Hall, Divine Consciousness was gradually released, swiftly traversing through streets and alleys, inspecting various residences in Lin'an.
Although Li Hong was only at the early stage of Transmutation, his Divine Consciousness was equivalent to that of a master at the Nascent Soul Stage. Under such meticulous observation, no movement could escape his notice.
After four full hours, he noted five suspicious locations and opened his eyes to ponder.
Among these five suspicious places, two were residences, one was a brothel, and the other two were a tavern and a tea house.
They were deemed suspicious because it seemed that someone among the inhabitants of these five locations had traces of Yin Power fluctuations associated with the Demon Sect. The aura was faint and indistinct, somewhat resembling the demonic energy fluctuations of a Demon Cultivator. If one were not particularly attentive, they would likely overlook it. This situation was quite similar to Li Xiaolou.
Among them, the brothel appeared to be the most suspicious. Li Hong decided to start there.
Just as he was about to signal his brothers to take action, he hesitated and slowly sat back down.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Chuxuan hurried in to report, "Sixth Senior Brother, the people from Zhao Zhen Sect have arrived."
Li Hong knew it must be them but found it strange that they were two days late in arriving in Lin'an when they had agreed on three days. He tidied his attire and composed himself to greet them.
Upon seeing the person at the center of the group, who was surrounded like a moon among stars, Li Hong was taken aback, feeling a sudden sense of embarrassment. He stammered, "What brings you here?"
Green Lotus moved her slender waist slightly and gracefully stepped forward, bowing with her skirt flowing: "Greetings, Elder." Raising her head, her eyes sparkled like autumn waters as she gazed at Li Hong, her cheeks involuntarily flushing with a hint of pink. That blush gradually spread across her face, making her look as delicate as peach blossoms in light rain, with pale pink skin accentuated by cherry-like crimson lips—truly stunning.
Was this still Green Lotus? She seemed like a different person; now she appeared radiant and healthy, even her lips had color, making her irresistibly charming. Li Hong found himself staring in a daze.
Green Lotus's blush deepened further; her face resembled that of a peach blossom as she shyly lowered her head.
Someone laughed heartily: "Chu Hongzi, why are you ignoring me now that I've arrived? If you want to whisper sweet nothings, do it privately later. The disciples from Zhao Zhen Sect are still waiting; are you really unwilling to offer us even a cup of tea?"
The crowd that had been momentarily stunned finally regained their senses. Some cursed themselves for being foolish; others envied Li Hong's good fortune; some smiled faintly as if they had passed another test. In any case, they quickly approached Jiang Xuanzi and the disciples from Zhao Zhen Sect to greet them.
Li Hong felt his face burning. He first called Liu Zhong over to arrange accommodation for Green Lotus while he went to mingle with Jiang Xuanzi and the other disciples from Zhao Zhen Sect. He busied himself for quite a while to cover up his earlier lapse. Deep down he sighed; it seemed Yun Jiuzi's delaying tactic might not work after all. Now Jiang Xuanzi had personally brought Green Lotus to find him, and he had just been lost in thought—there was no way to clear his name now.
The senior brother leading this group from Zhao Zhen Sect happened to know Chuxuan and Chu Hai; it was Wei Ming, who had spent a few days with them over ten years ago in the Ancient Celestial Field. At that time, Chuxuan and others were captured by Emei Four Swords. If they hadn't coincidentally met Wei Ming who rescued them from Emei Sect's grasp, perhaps Chuxuan and Chu Hai would have met the same fate as those Emei Sect disciples killed by black-clad figures.
Since they were familiar with each other and had a good rapport, conversation flowed easily. Before long, they were exchanging pleasantries and referring to each other as brothers.
This time Zhao Zhen Sect sent five people led by Wei Ming, the sixth disciple of Zhao Zhen Sect's leader Yajiangzi. The other four were also rising stars within Zhao Zhen Sect. Wei Ming was at the Refining Heart Early Stage while the other disciples shared similar cultivation levels. They had been delayed for two days due to packing their belongings.
Seeing that his peer, Li Hong, had already become an elder, and Chuxuan had surpassed him to reach the mid-stage of Refining the Heart, Wei Ming couldn't help but feel envious. He chuckled and said, "It must be the wonderful effects of your Nine Li Sect's Elixirs. I say, brother, don't forget to share some benefits with us!"
The reputation of the Nine Li Sect in alchemy was now quite formidable. Although Wei Ming spoke in a joking tone, everyone could tell he genuinely wanted to ask Li Hong for some good items.
Li Hong laughed heartily, "No problem! A little Elixir is nothing." As he spoke, he took out a bottle of Supplementary Spirit Pill from his Cosmic Bag and tossed it over.
Wei Ming was surprised that Li Hong actually gave it without hesitation. He caught it and immediately recognized what it was by the scent. He tucked it away with a smile, saying, "Then I won't be polite."
His fellow disciples looked on eagerly. Li Hong casually tossed another bottle to each of them and said with a laugh, "Brothers, play hard; this is all we have from the Nine Li Sect."
The group was overjoyed to receive them and felt even more favorable towards Li Hong.
Wei Ming pondered for a moment. Although Supplementary Spirit Pills were not rare, their practicality was remarkable. They could be used by anyone from those just stepping into cultivation to Golden Core elders; just one pill could quickly replenish spiritual energy, making it one of the best combat support Elixirs. While casual cultivators treated a single Supplementary Spirit Pill as a treasure, as disciples of a major sect, they didn't value them as highly. However, Chu Hongzi casually giving away five bottles was indeed very generous. Before setting out on this journey, his master had instructed him to build good relations with the disciples of the Nine Li Sect; it seemed he could accomplish that effortlessly. It was clear that Chu Hongzi was easy to get along with and a warm-hearted person.
Thinking this way made him smile even more sincerely.
He then heard Li Hong ask, "Patriarch, how did you end up coming here with the brothers from Zhao Zhen Sect?"
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